June is Pride Month and the Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) has decided that now, in the middle of a budget crisis, service cuts, and a federal investigation, it is the perfect time to start selling pride shirts, hats, and accessories “celebrating diversity and inclusion.”
But here’s the question: Who is buying any MCTS merch in the first place? The Pride merch is both expensive and cheesy looking. Seriously, who wants a rainbow bus pillow?
Most riders (including LGBTQ folks) are just trying to get to work, the doctor’s office, school, or the grocery store. No matter sexual orientation, many people depend on county transportation. They don’t care about a bus covered in rainbows. People need to get from point A to point B in a safe and timely fashion.
How is MCTS even able to devote its time and resources to merch when it has a serious budget deficit? MCTS is projecting an $18-$20 million budget gap in 2027. A Pride drop isn’t even going to begin to scratch the surface.
MCTS also has an out-of-control fare evasion problem. Fare evasion is estimated at 33% of riders. This problem is so great that it has attracted the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), which is concerned about Milwaukee’s higher-than-average rate of crime on buses.
When a transit system is facing so many issues, running a merchandise store is a ridiculous distraction; a chance for MCTS to tout its liberal agenda. But in its rush to be inclusive, but it is highly divisive.
Pride merch and Pride wrapped buses are the purest form of virtue signaling—the kind where an organization in crisis tries to mask failure with moral grandstanding. Just slap a rainbow on some hats and shirts, make a big show of “inclusion,” and hope the public forgets about the issues facing MCTS.
This isn’t about values or community. It’s about optics. It’s about pretending to stand for something meaningful while avoiding the hard work of actually fixing the system. When leadership relies on symbolic gestures instead of real solutions, that’s not progress, it’s a distraction strategy dressed up as righteous gallantry.
So, while buses are late, routes are disappearing, and fare evasion is bleeding the system dry, MCTS is spending time and resources on accessories nobody asked for. Just get all people, gay and straight alike, where they need to be safely and efficiently.
